How to quit smoking!

Stop Smoking – Dealing With the Cravings Author: Darrell Knox

Because nicotine is addictive, when you stop smoking, you are likely to experience cravings for those forbidden cigarettes. There’s no special way around the cravings; you’ll have to deal with them your own way. Each person finds a method to stop smoking that works best for him or her, and everyone has different reactions when they are weaning themselves from nicotine. There are several techniques you can try that have proven effective.
Cigarettes are habit forming. The habit is still there even if you’re dedicated to quitting. During the first two weeks, the body tries to flush out all chemicals and bring your body back to normal. This biological mechanism works in a number of different ways.

This is known as homeostasis. The body makes every effort to remain in balance. When things change, your body automatically wants to bring things back to normal. Understanding that it is a natural bodily process can be an advantage.

The hardest part of quitting smoking is dealing with stress, anxiety, and guilt. The cravings can make you feel out of control and undermine your confidence. The perception that you have lost control causes an increase in stress, which draws one to smoke a cigarette to balance things out. The cycle it creates is hard to break.

The first couple of weeks will be the hardest, because that’s when physical changes occur. You can get through this tough time if you understand that you will not be able to control those changes and you resolve to persevere.

Bring all stress in your life to a minimum. If you’re starting a new job, it is not a good time to attempt to quit smoking. By the same token, when your child is facing a serious medical problem, you should delay the long-term commitment to try to stop smoking.

Make sure you’re distracting yourself with something healthy.

Keep a supply of bite-sized fruit pieces close at hand. When a craving for a cigarette hits you, have some fruit instead. A tangy fruit is more effective than a sweet or bland one. Oranges and pineapples are excellent options, but use what works for you.

When that craving comes on strong, distract yourself by turning on a favorite song. It takes about the same amount of time to smoke a cigarette as it does to listen to a song and, similar to smoking, you can continue doing other activities while listening to music. So let music sooth you through your craving period. Make sure that whatever you choose is something positive. If you’re in a negative mood, put on some upbeat music.

Keep your hands busy with different types of exercises. Squeezing a tennis ball or hand spring are very simple, yet effective. Ease into exercises that get your whole arm, shoulder and back moving. This keeps you occupied with something other than cigarettes and gets your circulation flowing properly again.

Keep yourself busy with something that requires your full attention whenever you’re feeling the craving. The distraction might be a short one, but it will mean the difference between controlling the craving and giving in to it.

Before you know it, the cravings will be minimal. They will recur randomly over the course of the next few months. When this happens, try reverting to the behaviors that were successful in your early weeks of quitting smoking. In the long run, you will benefit tremendously. The long term advantages will outweigh the short term addiction.

Quit Smoking the Addiction and the Habit Author: Steve S Scott

If you want to quit smoking then there are two main obstacles that you will have to face and overcome. Firstly there is the physical addition you will have developed to nicotine over time. Secondly there is the actual habit of smoking itself. We are all individuals and we react to all kinds of situations in different ways but for me it was the habit that was the hardest to break.

I quit back in 2003 and I remember getting over the physical addiction quite quickly. Its been a while but if I remember correctly it only took about a couple of weeks. It was the habit that I found really tough to shake. It was about six full months after Id stopped smoking and I was still patting my pockets to make sure Id got my cigarettes with me when I left the house. I would be sitting at my PC and without even thinking about it, Id reach out for a cigarette.

Some people may say that this behaviour is all part of the physical addiction but I dont define it in this way. My physical cravings for tobacco had long since disappeared. I was no longer on edge and I really didn’t feel the need to smoke. On the other hand I was still going through the motions of a smoker. This was understandable because Id been smoking for well over twenty years and was used to having a cigarette in my hand. This is the reason why I define this aspect as habit.

There is no getting away from the fact that if you make the decision to quit then its going to be tough whether its the addiction that you find hard to break or the habit. Just keep focusing on the benefits and keep on the right path. In time youll look back on the day you stopped and it will rank way up there as one of the best days of your life.

Stop Smoking Program – A Program to Help Smokers Quit Smoking Author: Raj Kumar

A Stop Smoking Program is a program that caters to smokers who are quitting smoking and are having difficulty coping with the changes brought about by their desire to stop. There may be some who can go through the quitting process on their own, yet there are some who just could not do it without external help. This is what the program is all about as it provides support and encouragement in quitting smoking. Programs of this kind often have one-on-one or group counseling sessions that lasts for a certain period of time.

A program’s success usually depends on how often and how long counseling lasts. Studies have shown that the more intense the program is, the higher is its success rate. Intensity may be maximized by longer sessions or having more sessions and by increasing the number days or weeks that a session lasts. If you are looking for a quality program, you should find at least one of these criteria to conclude that it’s a program worth taking:

- A program having at least 30 to 40 minutes of counseling in a session
- The sessions usually go on for at least two weeks – it’s better if it is longer
- A minimum of 4 to 7 sessions should be done
- The facilitator of the group is trained and is knowledgeable enough in matters regarding quitting smoking

These programs are usually free and are initiated by government agencies or by civic groups who want to help people wanting to put an end on their nicotine addiction. If one is tempted to smoke again, he can count on somebody in the program to talk and listen to him so that he can resist his desire to smoke.

Not all stop smoking programs are out to help you cope with quitting smoking problems. There are some who are out to take advantage of your vulnerability and may be faking the programs they offer. Fortunately, there are some signs that you will notice in a program if it’s just out to fool you. Unethical programs would usually:

- Charge very high fees – better check if the agency offering the program is accredited
- Promises you a high success rate with very minimal effort on your part
- Gives you medication with classified or confidential ingredients in the form of injections or pills
- Would not give you any reference from past clients who have taken their program

If you notice any of these signs, then don’t bother taking up the program as they are just surely out to get money from you. Be wise enough in selecting a program.

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Quit Drinking Author: sunshine02

Alcohol is one of the most popular beverages in America. But drinking too much will affect people’s life and job seriously. Here are some methods to help you stop drinking.

Recognize that you are facing an addiction and taking steps to provide your body with the optimum level of health. Withdrawal symptoms are frequently worse for those with a longer drinking history, so patience will be the key to your success.

Substitute herbal teas for alcohol. Don’t replace your alcohol addiction with other sources of alcohol drinks. Instead of replacing alcohol with teas, chocolate beverages or caffeine energy drinks, choose herbal teas as a healthier alternative.

Drink more water. Alcohol harms the stomach, so add water to your diet. Most long term alcohol drinkers are addicted to alcohol, so drink the alcohol with water is a good choice which not only solve the drinking problem but also reduce the alcohol addition.

Take time to relax each day. Learn how to reduce stress naturally to help you through the withdrawal symptoms. You might find that it is a good idea to catch up on lost sleep as well.

Watch for co-dependency in relationships. A friendship or love interest that has a lot of drinking involved may be something to avoid while you quit drinking.

Take some antabuse. Antabuse is a prescription drug used as a last ditch effort to get alcoholics off the bottle. Known as Disulfiram at the pharmacy, this substance prevents the normal metabolizing of alcohol, and results in hangover-like symptoms that occur virtually concurrently with the imbibing of alcoholic drinks. But do not take Antabuse if you are concurrently taking Wellbutrin, Zyban, amphetamine-based drugs like Adderall, methylphenidate-containing prescriptions like Ritalin and Concerta, or if you are abusing cocaine.

Drinking less or not at all is a change in behavior, and it takes time and commitment. You must have enough patience and willpower to overcome it.

India Joining the No Smoking Campaign. But Will it be Fruitful! Author: Sandy Tonsing

The anti smoking measures have been very effectively implemented in the developed countries. Though the smokers didnt exactly welcome the anti smoking measures, yet they had no other choice but to kneel down before the higher and the more powerful authorities. Huge penalties were labeled for the law breachers and hence the smokers didnt have much of a choice. They had to agree to the anti smoking measures, if not for themselves than for the non smoking community which is actually a minority in countries like the US and the UK. Nevertheless these efforts paid well as the rate of second hand smoking saw an encouraging drop.

In the underdeveloped countries a smoke free environment is not only a far fetched dream but it is actually a dream that not many people dream. People and the authorities feel that there are other important matters to look into and hence quit smoking can wait. It is actually a matter of debate because after all, the first responsibility of any government is to protect its citizens. Therefore, protecting people from the harmful effects of the smoke also come among the priorities of the government. However, for some inexplicable reason it seems that the governments of most of the third world countries doesnt take smoking as an important enough issue that could command priority. The matters of defense and internal peace and equanimity have to be looked into first. Everything else can wait. This is one logic that cannot be negated altogether but it is time that the governments of these countries give equal attention to the matters of public health. Smoking is the most preventable cause of death in quite a few countries and definitely one of the most potent preventable causes of death in the whole world. It not only destroys human resources but an astronomic figure of wealth also. Hence it is time for all the governments of the world to take up the task of no smoking in all earnestness. Implementing bills to the affect of no smoking is not that a hard task. If the members in the government are like minded and wise enough, implementing smoking bans wont be an issue. This is one anti smoking measure that doesnt eat up much of national wealth and hence is advisable and appropriate for the third world countries or the poor countries in general. These countries have an overwhelming rate of smoking and the people here are also not aware of quit smoking ways like the anti smoke drugs. Chantix is a member of the quit smoking drugs. People have seen favorable effects by using chantix. The internet is the best place to know more about chantix and it is also the best place to buy chantix. Without much of a fuss and absolutely no waste of time and labor and sometimes even at a low price one can buy chantix online. The one thing that is common between buying chantix online and offline is the chantix prescription.

The majority of the smokers in the third world countries have no access to such sophisticated ways of quitting smoke. Hence bans are the most preferred. Recently in Delhi, the national capital of India, the police ordered every commercial outlet to display signboards of no smoking and on violating this rule penalties amounting to Rs 500 will be labeled on the violator. Though this is a very welcome step but the problem lies in the fact that in countries like India most of the laws remain in the paper only. The rules are almost never translated into reality. If this state of affairs continues, than I am afraid most of the anti smoking rules will also eventually ordain only the papers!

3 Lung Cleansing Methods For Easy Breathing Author: Grant Welcher

Lung cleansing is a good way to get back lost respiratory health from long years of smoking which have filled your lungs with tar and impurities that can cause many problems such as:

• Coughing
• Breathing difficulties
• Increase chance of respiratory infections.
• Increased chance of stroke
• Increased chance of bronchitis
• Highly increased chance of deadly lung cancers

Along with many more!

Some methods you can use to aid in doing a lung detox are:

Lung exercises – Changing your rate of breathing, breathing in and holding for a long time, breathing out as deeply as you can and many other lung exercises can be employed to strengthen the lungs and increase capacity while dislodging the tar and gunk that coats your lungs black is essential in cleaning your lungs.

Nutrition – A change of diet can help boost your natural immune system and put your body’s inbuilt detoxification processes into top gear to remove the impurities in your lungs and other parts quicker.

Tar removing vitamins – This is the big secret between a change in lifestyle as the other two points are and natural way to fast track your lungs to better health. The biggest problem with a smoker’s lungs is that the tar from cigarettes has stopped the toxin removing white blood cells called macrophages from accessing and cleaning the lungs. Tar is hard to get rid of and take several years or more to break down naturally. However this can be sped along to less than a year using some vitamins that have been proven to break up tar into more manageable chunks to be flushed from the body allowing the macrophages to do their work!

So if you want to know the exact details on how to do these lung cleansing methods click below to take your first step to better lung health and also to find out how this can help you quit smoking for good as well!

Lung Detox Guide

Quit Smoking to Avoid Health Hazards With Stop Smoking Medication Author: Katie

Chantix An oral drug that boosts smoking cessation

The main reason of difficulty among smokers who want to quit smoking is their strong nicotine addiction. But nothing is stronger than the will of a human being. If a smoker makes a sincere effort and takes help of some effective anti-smoking drugs, then smoking cessation is sure to happen.

Chantix is a prescription drug that proves quite helpful in smoking cessation. Most smokers who took Chantix treatment have successfully quit smoking and are now enjoying life as non-smokers.

Chantix is manufactured by US based pharmaceutical company Pfizer. It got the approval of FDA in May 2006 for sale in the US. The European Union approved it in September 2006 for sale in European countries. In January 2007, Chantix was approved in the UK where it is sold under the brand name Champix. Chantix is also know by a tag Chantix Pfizer.

How Chantix works?

The main ingredient in Chantix is varenicline tartrate. It works in two ways by reducing withdrawal effects as well as cravings for cigarettes among smokers after they quit smoking. They feel less desire for smoking and eventually quit it successfully by the end of treatment.

What are its doses?

The doses of Chantix are available in strengths of 0.5mg and 1mg tablets. You can start the treatment with a small dose and then increase it slowly in coming weeks of treatment. It is easy to take to take dosage of Chantix and you can swallow it with a glass of water. The general recommended treatment course with Chantix is 12 weeks. This period can be extended by the doctor when desired results are slow during the recommended period.

Are there any side effects of Chantix?

As Chantix is a prescription drug, so some side effects are quite obvious. The most common Chantix side effects are constipation, gas, vomiting, sleep problems, and nausea. Some adults who took Chantix medication have reported few adverse reactions like change in behavior, depressive mood, or suicidal thoughts. But such cases are rare and in most cases Chantix has helped smokers quit smoking successfully. If anything similar happens to you after taking Chantix medication, then you should consult a doctor before taking further medication.

Availability of Chantix

This smoking cessation drug is available in all licensed pharmacies in many countries of the world. You can buy it after doing a consultation with a doctor. Chantix is also available online and you need to follow few simple steps if you opt for this method. This process starts with an online consultation from any licensed clinic and requires you to fill in an online questionnaire with your medical details. You should provide correct details about your condition in the questionnaire as this serves to help the doctor judge your eligibility for taking Chantix

Why to choose Chantix amongst other smoking cessation medicines?

There are many smoking cessation drugs that can help smokers quit smoking. But Chantix has become quite popular. This is mainly due to its effective treatment method. It reduces the cravings of smokers for cigarettes by influencing the nicotine receptors in the brain without providing any doses of nicotine. In addition it success rate is far better than other know methods of smoking cessation.

Nicotine Gum – Another Type of Nicotine Replacement Therapy Author: Raj Kumar

The Nicotine Gum is a fast-acting form of Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) where nicotine goes into the body through the mucous membrane of the mouth. The nicotine gum comes in two strengths or dosages of nicotine: 2 mg and 4 mg. To use the nicotine gum, you must chew it slowly until a peppery taste is noted from it. For about 20 to 30 minutes, the cycle of chewing and then stopping by placing it for a few minutes inside your cheek to absorb the nicotine is done. When you’re taking the gum, be sure to avoid acidic foods and drinks like coffee or soft drinks for at least 15 minutes before and during gum use as they can affect nicotine absorption.

It is recommended that you start with the 4 mg dose if you are used to smoking 30 minutes after waking up, or smoke a pack or more per day, or have difficulty not smoking in restricted areas. The gum is prescribed for 1 to 3 months use with a maximum of 6 months and limited to 20 pieces of gum per day. By reducing the amount of gum that you use in a day, it can make your need for nicotine to be controlled and will lead you to eventually stop.

An advantage of the nicotine gum is that it cannot cause skin irritations unlike the nicotine patch. Most smokers who have sensitive skin use the gum instead of the patch. It also allows you to control your nicotine intake by limiting your gum usage in a day and by having schedules of when you chew the gum during the day. Studies show that having fixed schedules of gum intake, say 1 to 2 gums in an hour, works better. You could also opt to use it when you only need it the most, when you have your cravings.

There are also disadvantages or side effects that are associated with the nicotine gum. People who have used the gum would usually complain of jaw discomfort due to chewing, mouth sores, throat irritations, and nausea. Swallowing the gum may also cause stomach aches and chewing it too fast may really hurt your jaw. Dental works can also be affected by the gum due to the nicotine content.

It has also been noted that the nicotine gum users tend to have long-term dependence on it. While it is only recommended for a 6-month maximum use, about 20% of the users say they keep using the gum until about a year. Though using the gum is a lot safer than going back to smoking, only a few facts have been known on the long-term use of nicotine gum. It is still advisable that you limit your use for a maximum of 6 months.

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The Dangers of Cigarette Advertising Author: Brian Welsch

Did you know that all or the majority of cigarette advertising is actually illegal in many countries? In the U.S. this is one of the most heavily regulated areas of marketing, right along with alcohol. You might immediately wonder why the government would feel it appropriate to take such an interest in any one product, but let’s take a closer look at cigarettes themselves and then think about whether or not cigarette advertising should be so controlled by the government.

As with any other type of marketing, cigarette advertising never tells the consumer about the dangers of smoking; after all, why would they? In reality there are some 200 known carcinogens and toxins in cigarettes, and when they are burned the chemical process brings about some 4,000 poisons in both the tobacco and the smoke itself. When was the last time you heard cigarette advertising include those statistics? Smoking is connected to virtually every type of cancer in every part of your body; the reason for this is because the nicotine in cigarettes is absorbed in the bloodstream and then through the blood travels to every part of your body. While many understand the connection between cigarette smoking and lung cancer, they rarely are informed about the dangers of cigarette smoking with all these other cancers as well.

Cigarette advertising has often been aimed at certain audiences. For example, when Joe Camel was introduced as a “spokesperson” for Camel cigarettes, many parents complained that because the character was a cartoon it was designed to advertise to children. The character was discontinued in the 1990’s. Virginia Slims were designed to be marketed specifically to women, using the phrase “You’ve come a long way baby.” This was introduced in the 1960’s at the height of the feminist movement. Many have felt that these particular types of cigarette advertising are particularly sinister and inappropriate.

The real danger of cigarette advertising is that is designed to make cigarettes look cool, attractive and downright sexy. It’s usually the tough macho character that smokes, or the sexy siren woman. Cigarette advertising also means more than just advertisements themselves; by incorporating cigarettes into television shows and movies this too is a form of advertising. Often smoking is equated with sexual activity, and any character that doesn’t smoke or that is trying to quit is ridiculed as being weak or often made to feel as if he or she doesn’t fit in.

Cigarette advertising therefore typically preys upon the young and the weak; those who want to fit in and who need validation about their own attractiveness. Considering the dangers of smoking and cost of health care for those who do smoke, it’s no wonder that the government regulates this type of marketing so carefully.

For more information about Chantix – Quit smoking pill from Brian Welsch check www.chantixsite.com

3 Aids to Quit Smoking Author: Lara Lee

When it comes to quitting a habit as addictive as smoking, professional help is definitely needed as without it one would only fail in this incredibly difficult task. These professional aids make it look like a piece of cake to quit smoking. The main hindrance in the process of quitting this habit are the withdrawal symptoms which are caused due to a deficiency of nicotine in the body. There are different types of aids and the user can choose which ever suits him best. Following are some of the most widely used aids to help quit smoking.

The most easiest method is to use alternative nicotine intake sources such as gums, patches and inhalers. These relieve the withdrawal symptoms caused by the body’s desire for nicotine and thus the smoker can purely concentrate on his smoking habit without any hindrance caused by withdrawal symptoms. However as this method still involves the intake of nicotine therefore the problem of nicotine addiction still persists and will require further treatments to get rid of the addiction.

Use of hypnosis for quitting this addiction is another way by which the user can quit smoking. This methods has become increasingly popular because of its positive aspects. It does not involve any intake of nicotine and thus the person gets rid of both smoking and nicotine addiction, furthermore the method is completely harmless and the addiction can be cured in just a few visits to a professional hypnotherapist. In this method a suggestion is imprinted on the person’s mind to quit smoking and in full conscious state the person feels no need for smoking, in fact even the pleasure derived from smoking is not felt anymore.

The third method is to use some medicines which help reduce the effect of nicotine as well as the craving for nicotine. They prevent nicotine from adhering to the brain cells thus the pleasure derived from smoking is not felt anymore. They also relax the body and reduce withdrawal symptoms which helps in quitting this nasty habit. However most of these drugs are prescription only drugs and therefore cannot be bought without the doctor’s prescription. One should always consult a doctor and determine which method would be most suitable.